More and more purple fire rained in, Hall continued to return fire until his rifle clicked empty, he effortlessly slid in the next magazine but he felt a terrible burning pain in his left bicep, he slumped to the floor behind cover and gingerly checked the wound, a disgusting burning smell drifted into his nose.
“Hall’s down, Cox get over there and see what you can do, Perry me and you will cover him!” Master Sergeant Miller ordered.
Miller opened up on the .50 once more, he certainly got the enemies attention as a swarm of purple fire peppered his position, he remained calm under fire though and continued to give as good as he got. A stream of the .50’s armor-piercing rounds cut two of the soldiers down, one tried to lift his head but was struck straight through the helmet, the face shield cracked and let out a blue electrical hue and then blood seeped out of the wound.
“You fuckers can die then.” Miller smiled.
Airman 1st class Tom Cox had managed to reach Hall unscathed, he had started to check Hall over.
“Where are you hit sir?”
“My… my… top of my left arm.” Hall said, he was starting to shake.
Cox ginger peeled back the burnt edges of Hall’s uniform, it had fused with the charred skin around the wound. Hall winced in pain.
Cox’s face screwed up as he made his assessment.
“That good ey?” Hall said.
“You’ll live.”
Blood poured from the middle of the wound, the only part that had not been cauterized, Cox looked at his friend.
“I am going to put antiseptic cream on, it is going to sting and then I am going to bandage it up.”
Hall nodded.
A large flash of purple leaped out and struck the right-hand wall of the hanger, which bent and distorted in a bubble of superheated plasma, it exploded, shrapnel and debris flew in every direction and knocked Alan Perry off of his feet. The wall of the hanger half collapsed but the overall structure held firm.
“Perry!” Miller shouted, “Are you ok?”
There was a moments silence until then Airman raised his arm and stuck his thumb up.
Cox had just finished putting the bandage on Hall, who had not enjoyed the experience, the wound was the worst pain he had ever experienced, it still burnt under the dressing and his body was still in shock.
“That will have to do Sir, you are in shock, drink some of this.” Cox said and thrust a bottle of soda into his good hand.
Hall laughed, “Trust you to have this in your bag at a time like this!”
Cox smiled “Can’t go anywhere without it sir, I might get a headache otherwise.” Cox’s face hardened, “Take a minute Sir, I’ll cover you then we need you back in the fight.”
Hall nodded.
Staff Sergeant Billy ‘The Kid’ Jonson was the first to hear it, an aggressive, almost angry rumbling that was coming from his left.
“We have trouble coming guys.” He shouted as he moved his position, “Owens if you’re going to do anything, then it’s now or never.”
Miller could hear it now as well, his heart sank “Get to cover, tanks!” He shouted. Owens swung the trolley housing the missiles around, trying to aim up as best as he could.
The side of the corrugated hanger peeled apart as a gigantic tank burst through, a tool station was obliterated in the process and various tools flew everywhere.
Miller let out a roar as he swung the .50 round and gave everything he had, the rounds bounced off of the armored monster.
“Like spitballs’ Miller thought to himself.
The turret of the monster turned on his position and the smaller machine gun opened up, the rounds splashed towards Miller but were not quite lined up correctly, the smell of burning metal and concrete surrounded Miller; who could not believe he was still in one piece.
Owens finally got one of the ignitions lit, then rapidly four of the five missiles roared into life. Owens jump to the floor as they Sidewinders tore forward but with no guidance the first one corkscrewed into the floor and detonated just a few meters from Owens; he was showered in debris.
The second missile flew too high and rushed over the top of the turret but the third and fourth missiles stayed true and impacted on the front up plate of the huge vehicle. Two fireballs blossomed over the hull and smoke rose from the two impact sights.
“Yeah!” Cox shouted, “Take that you sons of bitches!”
As the smoke cleared Miller’s jaw dropped, the only effect the missiles had were to create two small, blackened burn marks where they had struck.
“What the hell is that thing made of?”
“That armor is incredible.” Hall said begrudgingly.
The turret moved slightly and the cannon glowed an angry purple.
“Shit, Miller get the fuck out of there!” Hall ordered.
The tank fired, the superheated shell raced towards Miller’s position, he had nowhere to go. The round detonated right on him, he disappeared in a ball of purple light, a mini supernova erupted in the middle of the hanger and the blast washed over Owen’s unconscious body, he was vaporized in an instant.
Hall bowed his head.
Johnson was still firing at the advancing troops, trying to take as many of them out as he could with the last remaining Browning machine gun. Hall gingerly got to his feet and started to pop rounds off at the tank, he had no hope of damaging it but he was hoping to at least piss it off.
The machine gun on the tank’s turret began hosing the area again, Perry dove behind cover but was hit in the side before he got there, he let out a terrifying yelp as he hit the floor.
Cox continued to provide suppressing fire on the rapidly advancing troops until his rifle clicked empty.
“I’m out.” Cox shouted.
‘Hudson must be out by now; he better be out because we can’t do anymore.’ Hall thought.
“Boys, listen to me!” Hall shouted, “Lay your weapons down, we’re done.”
Cox was about to say something but was cut off.
“Don’t argue with me, drop your weapons now.”
Hall dropped his gun and slowly raised his hands above his head. Tom Cox followed suit and reluctantly Jonson gave up his .50, Perry just led on the floor whimpering.
“We are surrendering, we have laid our weapons down, we are now your prisoners.” Hall shouted. Blood trickled down his arm.
The tank held fire as the armored troops flooded into the hanger, they collected all of the American’s weapons and started to round them up next to the hanger entrance. They were ordered to sit.
“Our man there is injured, we need to give him medical aid and you need to make provisions for his treatment.” Hall said with authority.
A laugh rang out from behind the group of armored soldiers, it was a laugh of derision.
“Who said that?” The voice said in a distinctly German tone.
“I did Sir, I am Senior Master Sergeant Warren Hall and I am in command…”
“Shut up you insect, you have lost and are in command of nothing.” The man said as he emerged from the group of soldiers.
His dark features locked onto Hall’s grey eyes, Hall could see no emotion in the man’s face and he felt a feeling of dread wash over him.
“Who am I speaking to Sir?” Hall asked assertively.
The man scoffed, “Kill them.” He ordered.
The armored men raised their weapons.
“What!” Hall shouted, “We are prisoners of war under your care, we have surrendered to you and under The Geneva Convention Article 3 –
1. Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, color, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.”